REPORT ON THE CURRENT STATUS OF
UNITED NATIONS ROMANIZATION SYSTEMS FOR GEOGRAPHICAL NAMES
Compiled by the UNGEGN Working Group on Romanization Systems
Version 4.0, February 2013

Macedonian Cyrillic

The United Nations recommended system was approved in 1977 (III/11), based on the romanization of the Serbo-Croatian and Macedonian Cyrillic alphabets that had long been employed in official gazetteers and maps of Yugoslavia. The table was published as an annex to the resolution1.

The system is used in The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia2 and in international cartographic products. An alternative system is described in the orthography manual of the language3.

The Cyrillic alphabet is used. The romanization table is unambiguous and can be applied automatically. The system is mostly reversible, but occasionally romanized characters dz, dž, lj may represent character combinations in Cyrillic (дз, дж, лј) instead of single characters (ѕ, џ, љ). Also, both characters г and к or ѓ and ќ may occur before е and и. So, for example, the syllable ke may stand either for the Cyrillic ке (as in Плакенска Планина Plakenska Planina) or ќе (as in Ќесендре Kesendre).

Romanization

1 А а a
2 Б б b
3 В в v
4 Г г g
5 Д д d
6 Ѓ ѓ đ, gA
7 Е е e
8 Ж ж ž
9 З з z
10 Ѕ ѕ dz
11 И и i
12 Ј ј j
13 К к k
14 Л л l
15 Љ љ lj
16 М м m
17 Н н n
18 Њ њ nj
19 О о o
20 П п p
21 Р р r
22 С с s
23 Т т t
24 Ќ ќ ć, kA
25 У у u
26 Ф ф f
27 Х х h
28 Ц ц c
29 Ч ч č
30 Џ џ dž
31 Ш ш š
32 ’ ’

Note. Cursive forms of some characters might be formed differently: Аа Бб Вв Гг Дд Ѓѓ Ее Жж Зз Ѕѕ Ии Јј Кк Лл Љљ Мм Нн Њњ Оо Пп Рр Сс Тт Ќќ Уу Фф Хх Цц Чч Џџ Шш ’.

Other systems of romanization

The alternative system given in the language manual3 romanizes, as a single block, the following characters differently from the UN system (the Cyrillic character is followed in parentheses by the romanization according to the UN system):

ѓ (đ/g) ǵ
ќ (ć/k) ḱ
љ (lj) lj or ĺ
њ (nj) nj or ń

References

  1. Third United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. Athens, 17 August - 7 September 1977. Vol. I. Report of the Conference, pp. 29, 31.
  2. Report of The former Yugoslav Republic of Macedonia. Seventh United Nations Conference on the Standardization of Geographical Names. New York, 13-22 January 1998. Document E/CONF.91/CRP.23.
  3. Правопис на македонскиот литературен јазик. Издание со изменет и дополнет текст под редакција на Тодор Димитровски. «Просветно дело», Скопје 1998, pp. 111–112.